Atlanta United tops MLS Power Rankings, NYCFC's unbeaten streak ends

Portland Timbers continued their turnaround after a slow start to 2018 with a resounding win over New York City FC.

1. Atlanta United (+1)
Saturday's marquee matchup was Atlanta's trip to the StubHub Center to take on the surging Galaxy. It did not disappoint, especially for Atlanta fans. While the visitors wasted several chances, they did more than enough to win convincingly and claim the top spot in the rankings.

2. Sporting Kansas City (+2)
There's no legitimate way to process what Sporting did on Friday in a 6-0 home win over Vancouver, in large part because of the double red cards. SKC was up 3-0 at that point and did put the sword to a wounded opponent.

3. New York City FC (-2)
Out west the Pigeons found themselves at the bad end of a comprehensive beating by the Timbers, a loss that ends the New Yorkers' unbeaten start. Portland's counter-attacking setup undid NYCFC's domination of the ball.

4. New York Red Bulls (-1)
Every now and then, a good MLS team throws up a "What was that?" performance. Jesser Marsch is hoping New York's 2-1 home loss to a (terrible to this point) Chicago team is an aberration and nothing more.

5. LAFC (no change)
Ahead of next week's home opener, LAFC increased the club's reputation as road warriors with an incredible comeback in Montreal. Bob Bradley's team is wildly inconsistent, but they certainly have the ability to do damage with a talented attacking group.

6. Columbus Crew SC (no change)
The Crew broke a three-game losing run with a 2-2 home draw against the Revolution. Ending the streak of losses is good, but Gregg Berhalter won't be happy that his team gave up two leads in the match.

7. Orlando City (+3)
The Lions are on a four-game winning streak and have the early leader for Rookie of the Year in forward Chris Mueller. The Wisconsin product scored his third goal in as many games during a 3-2 win over San Jose.

8. Toronto FC (-1)
It's still difficult to know where to place the Reds considering the focus on the CONCACAF Champions League. The Toronto team that lost 5-1 in Houston on Saturday bears no resemblance to what we'll see in league play next week.

9. Vancouver Whitecaps (-1)
The Caps might need to hire a team hypnotist to wipe Friday night's debacle from their minds as they head into a home date against RSL next weekend. The 6-0 scoreline is bad enough, but Carl Robinson's team was already down 3-0 when the red cards were handed out.

Evan Bush can't handle the ball in his area, allowing Latif Blessing to pounce and score LAFC's fifth goal in a 5-3 win at Montreal Impact.

10. Portland Timbers (+5)
Finally, something emphatic from last year's top finisher in the West. Giovanni Savarese's team didn't control the ball, but it did pop devastating counters to undo the presumed best team in the league with a 3-0 win on Sunday.

11. New England Revolution (no change)
The Revs came back from two one-goal deficits to earn a point on the road in Columbus. Brad Friedel's team isn't a sure playoff contender yet, but there's good signs that he's pushing New England into the conversation.

12. Houston Dynamo (no change)
The Dynamo did what was expected in a 5-1 throttling of a weakened TFC team on Saturday. The win ended a four-game winless run for Houston that extended way back to the season opener.

13. FC Dallas (no change)
FC Dallas is still unbeaten after a 2-0 home win over Philadelphia on Saturday and has quietly moved into second place in the Western Conference. The schedule hasn't been daunting, but give FCD credit for the strong start to the season.

14. LA Galaxy (-5)
Atlanta United walked into Carson and mostly controlled the game from start to finish. The Galaxy had a few chances, but there was little anyone -- including Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- could do to stop Miguel Almiron & Co. from leaving with three points.

15. Real Salt Lake (-1)
Up a man for most of the match, Real Salt Lake struggled to find a goal against Colorado. The 3-0 win looks good on paper, but there are plenty of reasons to be concerned that it took so long to break down 10 men.

Seattle's winless start to 2018 came to an end at CenturyLink Field, with Will Bruin's goal proving decisive against Minnesota United.

16. Seattle Sounders (+3)
The Sounders desperately needed a "get healthy" game, and boy did Sunday's tilt against Minnesota United deliver. While it wasn't as convincing as they'd like, any three points will do for Seattle.

17. Chicago Fire (+6)
A golazo from Aleksandar Katai, an Nemanja Nikolic penalty, and the work of Richard Sanchez in net was enough to see the Fire through at Red Bull Arena. The win is impressive and might be the thing Chicago needs to jump-start its season.

18. Philadelphia Union (-2)
It's now five games without a win for the Union. Even worse, Jim Curtin's team has just a single goal in that span and doesn't show any indication that there's a solution to the attacking problems on the horizon.

19. San Jose Earthquakes (-2)
The push to get back in the game in Orlando came too late for the Quakes. Defensively, San Jose will be using the tape of Saturday's game as a learning tool-for what to avoid in the future.

20. Colorado Rapids (-2)
Tim Howard's early red card didn't end Colorado's chances of getting a point on the road at RSL, but it certainly made it tough. The Rapids held on for nearly 70 minutes before a penalty broke things open for the home side.

21. Montreal Impact (-1)
Ignacio Piatti's first half hat trick had the Impact on its way to a big home win at Stade Saputo before a complete collapse in the second half. There's no way to sugarcoat it: That was a disaster for Remi Garde's team.

22. Minnesota United (-1)
The Loons are shipping a ton of goals, a trait they've carried over from 2017's expansion season. If the defense is going to be so bad, Minnesota can't waste chances like they did with Francisco Calvo late in Seattle.

23. D.C. United (-1)
No game for D.C. on the weekend, but Chicago's ascendance pushed Ben Olsen's squad to the bottom. They'll look to make a climb on the road in Philly during Week 9.

Jason Davis covers Major League Soccer and the United States national team for ESPN FC. Twitter: @davisjsn.